


His Way

by addie71



Category: The Faculty (1998)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-04
Updated: 2008-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-13 23:43:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3400583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/addie71/pseuds/addie71
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Casey always gets his way. :D</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Way

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2008 C/Z Love Month.
> 
> Thank you so much to mews1945 for the beta. You always come through for me, even when you are not feeling well. *hugs*

Zeke got out of the GTO and strode along the sidewalk, head bent against the cold, March rain. As he made for the kitchen door, a mewling sound coming from the leafless hedge stopped him in his tracks. Fuck. The damn thing was still there. He looked down at the ragged kitten. Its honey colored fur was wet and dirty, making it appear even smaller than it had last night. It seemed to shiver as it looked up at Zeke with big green eyes and let out another pitiful cry. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Going against everything in him, Zeke picked up the miserable ball of fur and cradled it against his chest. 

The raggedy kitten had been hanging around the back door the previous night when Casey had come over after dinner. The boy had immediately scooped up the pitiful little thing and begun cooing over it, carrying it with him into the house. 

“Casey! Stop fussing over that thing and put it back outside. I don’t want it hanging around here.” 

“But, Zeke, it’s cold and probably half starved! “ Casey looked up at Zeke, widening those big blues as only Casey could, giving Zeke the full force of his best persuasive resource. 

“Okay, you can give it some milk, but nothing else. I’m serious, Casey, I don’t want it hanging around.” Zeke knew it was a mistake, but he couldn’t resist the boy when he looked at him like that. 

Casey proceeded to find a bowl and fill it with milk, which disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. After the kitten was finished, Casey picked it up and carried it into the living room where he began to play with it, getting it to chase his fingers. 

Zeke, resigned to the fact that Casey was getting his way _again_ , had brought in a couple of Cokes and sat down next to Casey on the sofa. For the rest of the evening Zeke watched as Casey cuddled and played with the little cat, but he’d fended off Casey’s attempts to persuade him to keep the little stray. Zeke had remained firm in his refusal and when Casey left for the night, the kitten did too. 

Zeke knew how badly Casey wanted to keep the kitten, and he knew that Casey’s parents wouldn’t let him have it, but Zeke didn’t want the responsibility of owning _any_ pet right now. It wasn’t that he didn’t like animals; he just didn’t want to be bothered. So when he left for school that morning and saw the kitten hanging by the door again, he stamped his foot and at it and yelled “Scat!” causing it to scamper away. Zeke thought that would be the end of it. 

But now, here he was, with a bedraggled ball of fur in hand, cursing himself and Casey too. He carried it into the laundry room, looking for an old towel to dry it off. Finding one, he patted the kitten gently, sopping up the excess water. Continuing to carry it, Zeke walked to the sink and retrieved the bowl from the night before, filled it with milk again, and set it down. 

The kitten lapped greedily at the milk, finishing it off just as quickly as it had the previous night. Done, it sat down and began a systematic wash, cleaning itself thoroughly before it started checking out its new surroundings. 

Zeke sat at the kitchen table studying his new charge while it finished its dinner and bath. Coming to a conclusion that he was sure he would live to regret, he got up and shrugged into his jacket. Gathering up a fresh towel and a laundry basket from the laundry room, he scooped up the kitten and wrapped it in the towel. Carrying the kitten in one hand and the laundry basket in the other, he dashed out the door to the GTO and deposited the basket in the passenger side seat. Getting in on the driver’s side, Zeke unwrapped the squirming kitten and reaching over, placed the towel evenly over the bottom of the laundry basket. Then he gently placed the ball of fur on the towel. 

“Well, that should do for a short trip, don’t you think?” Zeke asked the kitten as he shifted into reverse and backed out of the driveway before heading toward the local PetSmart. 

The staff at the store made a big fuss over the tiny kitten when Zeke asked for help in locating the supplies he would need. Their helpfulness extended to determining the little cat’s gender and picking a name for her. Zeke wasn’t sure about keeping a name some else came up with, as he thought Casey might like to have that privilege (seeing as it was all Casey’s fault that Zeke had taken her in to begin with). But when Honeybear was suggested, he thought it seemed to fit. So an hour later, the car loaded with cat carrier, litter box and litter, food and water bowls, a month’s supply of kitten food, an assortment of sundry other items deemed necessary to Honeybear’s health and happiness and a carry out from the drive through of the local Mickey D’s, Zeke and Honeybear headed for home. 

Carrying everything inside, he proceeded to let Honeybear out of her carrier and set up the litter box in a corner of the laundry room. After showing it to her, Zeke led the kitten into the kitchen, so she would know how to find the litter box when she needed it. Then he filled the appropriate bowls with water and food and put them in a corner of the kitchen before he finally sat down to eat his, now cold, Big Mac and fries. Honeybear, deciding that dinner was an excellent idea, dug in with enthusiasm. 

Zeke glanced at the clock. In spite of his busy afternoon it was still fairly early. Casey wouldn’t be over for at least another half hour or so. Drumming his fingers on the table, inadvertently gaining Honeybear’s attention, he tried to remember where his mother kept the Christmas wrapping supplies when she was last at home for that holiday. His best bet was the storage closet in the basement. 

Zeke switched on the stairway light and headed down. Brushing off a few stray cobwebs, he crossed the open basement to the storage area, opened the door, turned on the light, and stepped inside. After searching out the items he wanted he headed back up the stairs. 

The little cat was waiting for him at the top, vocalizing her displeasure at being left alone. He picked her up and strode into the living room where he flopped down on the sofa. He carefully set his collection down beside him, picked the kitten back up and contemplated her for a minute, then cradled her on his chest. 

*** 

An hour later, Zeke opened the back door to let Casey in out of the rain. Casey dropped his duffle and wet jacket on the floor by his feet and Zeke caught him up in a fierce kiss. “Missed you,” said Zeke as they broke apart. 

“Me too,” then, “Where’s the kitten?” mumbled Casey as he rubbed his cheek against Zeke’s chest. 

Zeke chuckled and stepped back, holding Casey at arm’s length while he caught his gaze with his own. “I guess I know where I stand! Didn’t you see it outside?” 

“No. I looked around a bit too. I was hoping you brought it inside.” 

Zeke raised his eyebrows. “I thought I made it clear last night that I didn’t want it hanging around, so why would you think I would have brought it in here? It must have found some other place to hang out.” Zeke slid his arm around Casey’s shoulders, shepherding him toward the living room. “I was just hoping.” Casey was so disappointed that Zeke had trouble hiding his smile. 

They settled on the sofa, Casey snuggled between Zeke’s legs with Zeke’s arms wrapped around him. They chatted about school, homework and whether to play video games or watch TV. 

After a few minutes, Zeke untangled himself from Casey. “I have to go upstairs, I’ll be right back.” Zeke bounded up the stairs and ran to his bedroom.

He opened the door and went over to where he had Honeybear isolated in the laundry basket and picked her up. She was now sporting a bright red bow of curling ribbon, a little tattered where she had been playing with the ends, and a tag reading ‘Hi Casey, I’m Honeybear.’ 

Zeke peeked down the stairs and saw that Casey had his back to him and was going through Zeke’s collection of DVDs. Zeke went down the stairs as quietly as possible and walked over to the boy. “Here, Case, I’ve got something for you.” Casey turned around and Zeke placed the little kitten in his hands. 

“Zeke!” Casey’s face lit up like a five year old at Christmas. He cradled the kitten to his chest and turned the tag over to read it. “His name is ‘Honeybear’?” 

“Well her name actually, but you can change it if you don’t like it.” 

“I think it’s perfect!” Casey hesitated, “and we’re really going to keep her?” Casey looked up with so much hope and longing that Zeke had to pull him into his arms, being careful not to squash the newest member of his household.

“Yeah,” he said as he pressed his cheek to Casey’s hair. “Don’t you know you always get your way?”


End file.
